Trust, talent, and Tigers: How Gloucester's tyros are at the heart of their quest for the three-peat

100 miles - behind the wheel of a tin-can Polo, beneath skies boasting at least half as many shades of grey, and in the sort of torrential rainfall that not even Richard Curtis could make romantic - is more than enough time to ponder the side known as The Circus.

To reflect on how, two years ago, they emerged from a chrysalis of unremarkable mid-table campaigns as league-conquering butterflies - if butterflies rippled with muscle and didn’t start tornadoes, but finished them.

To ponder how success can cascade from the top down, much like the soggy onslaught lashing your windscreen, but is much better built from the ground up - with patience and investment and faith.

Because, if you have a robust enough pathway - and then sprinkle its output with a handful of galacticos - you’ll eventually craft a squad so deep that it becomes one of champions - even in the best domestic league in the world. 

And then, if you treat those assets well, and work tirelessly to improve them, they’ll stick around - so devoutly that you’ll retain all 15 who started that very league’s final. Twice.

Ahead of Sunday, when Gloucester-Hartpury get their title defence underway against Leicester Tigers - live on TNT Sports - I aquaplaned my way along the M40 to Kingsholm, and not just because Emma Sing had baked a Kinder Bueno banana bread for the ages.

I was met by Dan Murphy - who fronted cherry and white scrums on over 90 occasions, spent years overseeing conveyor belts at the talent factory that is Hartpury, and now coaches the champions’ forwards - and given a tour of their high performance centre. 

Gloucester-Hartpury coaches pose for a photograph as they celebrate victory after the Allianz Premiership Women's Rugby Final match between Bristol Bears and Gloucester-Hartpury at Sandy Park on June 22, 2024 in Exeter, England. (Photo by Pat Elmont/Getty Images)

It’s a work in progress, but all the critical elements are in place - state-of-the-art gym, gleaming indoor 4G facility, and about a tonne’s worth of coffee-making apparatus. The common room is cosy as you like, with PWR winners draped over sofas and beanbags in air thick with espresso fumes. 

I’m briefly thrilled that the women get as much run of the place as George Skivington’s side before checking myself: not only should that be par for the course, but - results-wise - Sean Lynn’s athletes are this parish’s most successful export by far.

21 of the group are currently WXV-ing, whilst Tigers have twelve overseas - which really does beg the question: “Who on earth plans these things?” This league’s greatest asset is how ferociously it bristles with talent, but - as it kicks off - the televised match alone will be shorn of more than 30 of the best available athletes. It’s absurd.

It’s also the ultimate test of The Circus’ fabled depth - but Murphy doesn’t seem concerned in the slightest. ‘Preseason is preseason,’ he says - when asked about how to prepare to defend a title when flung across multiple continents. “You get fitter, faster, and stronger: that’s the game. Does it really matter where you do it..?”

If anything - whilst roses, feathers, and thistles are being drilled elsewhere - these coaches are free to roll up their sleeves and go hunting. “It’s an opportunity to head into the pathway and identify the next crop - to really impact their development. If you can sink your teeth into them early, it makes the world of difference.”

Plus - there’s suddenly an awful lot of space here at Kingsholm: “Our whole BUCS team trained with the Gloucester-Hartpury girls this preseason, in a Premiership environment. That’s amazing.”

BUCS - aka British Universities and Colleges Sport - is an essential piece of the puzzle, and one Hartpury seem to have solved. Their women’s outfit have won the last three national titles, and you only need to glance at their starting XV for the 2022 final to see how bountiful this pathway has become.

Sophie Bridger captained from fly-half, and - when not slaloming defenders herself - unleashed a backline featuring Pip Hendy, Mia Venner, and Emma Sing. Up front, Amy Dale had a barnstorming afternoon at hooker.

It’s metaphorical perfection that Hartpury’s logo is an acorn, really.

Susie Appleby was at the heart of the programme’s formation - grafting tirelessly to finesse robust structures and values before heading Exeter-way to work her magic with Chiefs - which Lynn has only strengthened since taking on the role in 2019.

“He trusts it,” Murphy explains, “And that’s key. He knows and believes in the pathway.” That faith will be put under enormous pressure this year - with internationals away, and a concertinaed season requiring unprecedented rotation.

“We’re going to have to trust those youngsters, but - luckily - we do, and this group are incredible to work with” - because of, rather than in spite of, their freshness.

“They pick things up like that” - a snap of the fingers - “because it’s often the first time they’re hearing something. There are no blurred lines or preconceptions from other coaches, so - so long as you get the messaging absolutely right - you have the opportunity to provide real clarity. It’s hugely rewarding: you can watch them take leaps session on session.”

What’s just as critical is the number of outlets available for these improvements: Gloucester-Hartpury’s stable might share a training paddock, but they race up and down the country.

“Players get better by playing, and - put simply - everyone here plays. Yes - we’ve got a huge squad, with an abundance of talent, but everyone gets to take what we work on in the week out onto a rugby field. 

“That way, when they reach the biggest of stages - all that’s changed is the opposition. The game, the structures, the calls - that’s all been consistent - and the company’s stayed the same too.”

The upshot is: even without their talismans, and with relatively few PWR appearances across the match day 23, those in the starting blocks on Sunday are rich in experience. 

Steph Else (remember the name) has been learning both locking and leading from the likes of Sam Monaghan and Zoe Aldcroft, Hendy is itching to kick on after an injury-catalysed breakout campaign, and Sing might - somehow - be just 23, but has started two Premiership finals, and been one of the league’s top performers for years. 

Throw in Bianca Blackburn and Rachel Lund, and you can see why there’s a quiet confidence around the coaches - despite the onslaught they’re expecting from a ‘hungry’ Tigers.

“It’ll be a long old day at the office. They’re well-drilled at set piece, they don’t go away, and there are a lot of girls who’ve been part of our set-up in the past - and so have a point to prove. No doubt about it: Sunday will be tough.”

To training, then. Lynn and Andrew Ford - Attack Coach, but also Senior Academy Manager at Hartpury - eventually hush a buzzing room to lead their analysis session. Without giving too much away: they’re expecting a proper ding-dong, and they’re - rightly - thrilled that the PWR is back. Lynn seems to hold each and every pair of eyes as he pauses. They are enrapt. “It doesn’t get any bigger”.

The squad parts like the Cherry Red Sea - backs off to the verdant rectangle they once called ‘Queensholm’ and forwards to a brilliantly interactive set piece seminar before getting cosy in the 4G barn. 

Getting to stand on the scrum machine was marvellous, but nothing will top Gwen Crabb’s Raygun impression. Perfection. As passes fizz outside and shoulders collide indoors - there’s the soft percussive ‘oomphsssss’ of gloves hitting pads - as ACL Club go through the motions in a seated boxing class. 

“I need to get the aggression out somehow, now I’m not playing,” Kelsey Jones declares with a laugh later on - where she and Lizzie Goulden prove the perfect standard-driving cheerleaders from the touchline.

Meanwhile - dinner arrives. Crates of Tupperwared goodness: fuel for champions, who are being given every bit of support possible in their bid for the three-peat.

Figuratively, though - how does a side who’ve lost thrice in two seasons, and seem almost impervious to pressure, stay hungry?

Murphy casts around for the answer before smiling. “It’s simple: we want to win it again.”

“We’re sports people, so yearn to get better all the time: that’s only natural. The first title was new and fun - we didn’t know if we could do it. The second really challenged us - but being the hunted was exciting. Bristol were amazing that first 40, which made it all the sweeter. We really had to earn it.”

“Now - why not do it again? They’re all coming after us: the target is bigger than ever, and it’s on us to challenge each other in different ways internally. It’s not just about winning at the weekend here, as much as that’s the ultimate goal.”

100 miles home again to think about The Circus (and listen to some music: even I’m not that much of a rugby pig) - as they go hunting a historic third straight title, and trust the tyros they’ve unearthed to fill the boots of voyaging giants.

On not just the day’s evidence, but the years of investment which have transformed a trickle of promise into a torrent of talent: they absolutely should.